Tuesday, 10 April 2018

200g Freshly picked ramson leaves, washed35g Glutinous rice flour100g Gochugaru (Korean red chilli powder)25g Salt35g Sugar2 Garlic cloves, roughly choppedA thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped1 Small apple, cored and roughly chopped1 Small onion, roughly chopped1 Add the rice and 250ml water to a small pan, then bring to a bubble over a medium heat; whisk regularly until it thickens to a paste. Leave to cool to room temperature.2 Blitz the cooled rice paste, gochugaru, salt, sugar, garlic cloves, ginger, apple and onion in a blender. Don’t worry if there are a few rogue chunks of apple or onion in the paste, nothing too big though.3 In a large bowl, use your hands (I recommend wearing rubber gloves) to massage the kimchi paste into the ramson leaves. Careful not to crush the leaves but ensure that they all get a good coating. Transfer to a large jar, top up with 150ml water (boiled but then cooled) and leave to ferment out of direct sunlight for 3-5 days, depending on how you like your kimchi. Refrigerate once you’re happy to halt further fermentation – it should keep for a few months if kept chilled.

For the drizzle:75g Caster sugarJuice of 1 large orange1Tbsp Honey1Tsp Dried rose petals

1 Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Beat the butter caster sugar together until pale and creamy, then gradually whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Sift in the flour, add the orange zest, juice and cardamom then mix until well combined. 2 Grease and line a round, 23cm cake tin. Arrange the blood orange slices across the bottom of the tin – cut a few in half to fill any large spaces but don’t worry if there are a few gaps. Spoon over the cake mix, level with the back of a spoon then bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a skewer comes out cleanly.3 Heat the orange juice, sugar and honey together in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the cake out onto a plate and drizzle with orange syrup – finish with a sprinkle of dried rose petals.